Hi everyone,

I'd like your opinion on one thing: Would it add any weight on my applications if I apply having passed ALL three steps? By the time I finish med school I'll be done with the first two, and maybe csa, but since I have to decide whether to go to the army before or after my specialization, I was thinking if by having passed step 3 by the time I send my applications, I would have any edge over fellow students that haven't done so. You see, the military service for docs is a waste of time here, and if it would give me any edge, I would highly consider studying for step 3 in my free time(provided it would be of any advantage as far as my applications' faith is concerned). Thanks in advance.

Off course, I meant my applications' fate*

You can't sit for Step III until you have the degree.

http://www.fsmb.org/2003usmle/html_files/2003_step_3_eligibility_requirements.htm

If you're an IMG, you have to have your ECFMG certification, too.

Some states are even more restrictive - if you want to take Step III under that state's auspices, you have to apply for your license at the same time.

Something idiosyncratic is that Step III is administered by each state, so you sit for the exam under each state's eligibility requirements, but you can physically take it in any state you want.

Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming are the states where you can take Step III without any GME, and you don't have to apply for a license.

Nebraska and Utah are also places where you can take Step III without GME or applying for a license, but there's a special case for IMG's - you have to have a valid, indefinite ECFMG certificate (ergo, you have to have started a GME program).

http://www.fsmb.org/stp3faq.htm

Thanks for the links Apollyon, I kind of knew some of these facts already.In my mind, ECFMG gertification was synonymous to passing steps 1 and 2, the TOEFL and the CSA. Am I missing something on that? Consider I pass all these exams, am I not eligible to take step 3 in one of the states that don't require prior medical training? And yes, of course I will have my medical degree when I will apply for step 3..

Unless you BARELY passed Step I and II, I wouldn't worry. I say BARELY, because, if that is the case, a PD's worry that you might flunk Step III or your boards would be 1/2 mooted.

I have two friends that took Step III before starting their residencies, and both passed, but they had long before both gotten their positions. If you plan on graduating in May, and starting in July, you too will have your spot well before you take Step III.

My own single opinion is that it will have zero to minimal impact - not a detriment, though.

However, if you want to go the H1B route, you have to have passed Step 3. I don't know if this is an issue for you, but it is something else to consider.

Also, to become ECFMG certified, you must send your diploma to the ECFMG with a picture attached. Then they take it, send it back to your university so they can actually confirm that they indeed issued the diploma to you and that you are a graduate. They then send it back to the ECFMG. The ECFMG processes it and sends you the provisional ECFMG certification. Only once you have this paper may you apply to sit for Step 3.

Anyhow, all this sending back and forth with the ECFMG can take 1 month and more. One of my friends was unluck as the ECFMG sent her diploma to the wrong place to be certified, so by the time she got her certification it had been three months.

I barely got my certification in time to start residency on July 1. (I only knew I had it by talking to the ECFMG and checking on OASIS; I didn't get the FedEx until after).

Anyway, depending on your situation, you may want to take it ahead of time in any case, regardless of whether you think it would boost your application.